In a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson announced 19 minority investors, with another investor added after the announcement, that have pledged $1 million each as part of a local ownership group to keep the Sacramento Kings.
According to USA Today and The Sacramento Bee, the big guns are coming in.
Both outlets report that Mark Mastrov, 24 Hour Fitness founder, and Ron Burkle, co-owner of the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins, are in talks about joining Sacramento's ownership team.
Hedge fund manager Chris Hansen and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer have agreed to buy the Kings from the Maloofs and move them to Seattle where the team will become the SuperSonics.
Like Hansen and Ballmer, Mastrov and Burkle seem willing to work together and they might not be alone:
The fact that the two men are willing to join forces is seen as significant by Sacramento supporters. There are five potential owners currently in play, but Mastrov and Burkle are seen as the heaviest hitters among that group.
After Burkle bought the Penguins, he helped the team get a new arena and the eventually the NHL's Stanley Cup. Mastrov, a Bay Area investor, was the runner-up in a bid for the Golden State Warriors and had expressed interest in pursuing the Kings.
While Mastrov and Burkle haven't been officially revealed, Johnson said that an announcement will come soon:
Number two (of five steps, identify major equity partner) will be revealed soon. I will say this. This was a first step because we wanted our community to be the ones leading the way and that's what we did.
We only found out this news a week ago and for us to rally at the speed that we did says an awful lot. Secondly, we are making great progress on the rails. ... We believe that there's people are going to invest in Sacramento. There's not one group or two groups. There're multiple groups that can come in at the level that we need them to.
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